Inspections chief promises lighter touch for social care

The chairperson of the Audit Commission has pledged a commitment to
a “lighter touch” form of public sector regulation,
writes Katie Leason.

James Strachan,
who described himself as “deregulatory”, said that he
would have failed personally and the Audit Commission collectively
if they did not succeed in rationalising the way regulators
operate.

He told the
National Social Services Conference that there were some good ones
among the plethora of regulators, auditors and inspectors, but said
that some were still acting in the “old style way”, and
focusing on whether or not public money was being well spent rather
than whether or not things were actually improving.

“The real
test of all these initiatives is whether the person using the
services has been well served and over time better served,”
he said.

Strachan
questioned whether regulatory resources had been used effectively
by the inspecting of everyone every year regardless of their
performance.

“Any
business man would say that’s a lousy use of money,” he
said.